Worried Sick Over You
by lil'hawkeye3
Summary: When your soulmate is sick, you can feel their symptoms in the hopes that these clues will lead you to them. The idea of real soulmates is foreign to Hermione Granger, and Cedric Diggory is drawn to his other half under the most severe circumstances.
1. Chapter 1

Thank you so much to the wonderful KoraKunkel for being my wonderful beta. This fic wouldn't have been possible without all of the wonderful writers, artists and helpers in the Hermione's Nook ficfest chat group: thanks to you all for being wonderfully creative marvels that help add to this ever-expanding world.

To clarify: I mention the Weasley Twins being soulmates and each other's "other half." This is an allusion to them being twin souls—their bond is so close and unique that they are practically of the same mind. They are not a romantic or sexual pairing. I am sorry for the confusion.

* * *

**One**

Cedric Diggory was six when he first remembered feeling it.

His throat was dry and scratchy even though he drank three glasses of water. He felt tired even though he had slept through the night and, even though he felt normal, his mother jerked her hand back when she felt how warm his forehead was. And yet, all her healing spells said he _wasn't sick._

That night when she tucked him into bed, her story was about something that made his eyes wide with wonder.

_Soulmates._

She wove a story of how, somewhere out there, there was a little witch or wizard that was his other half. Right now they were sick and magic was letting him know so he could find them and take care of them– when he was older, of course. He likely wouldn't find them until he went off to Hogwarts.

His mother also warned him that he had to eat all of his vegetables now and stay healthy because he didn't want his soulmate to feel his sickness, would he?

"But if I never get sick, how will they know I'm their soulmate?" He asked, as his mother brushed his hair off his forehead.

"Magic will find a way, dearest," she whispered with a smile before kissing the top of his head and leaving him to sleep.

His dreams were wrapped in happiness and love, as he imagined what his soulmate would be like. They remained indistinguishable in the fog of his dream world, and in the morning he could remember nothing except bright amber eyes.

His elation was shattered the next morning when his father found out about what his mother had told him.

"Don't be filling the boy's head with fairytale nonsense!" He heard his father hiss at his mother in the kitchen. "I will not have him grow up with his head in the clouds!"

Cedric didn't understand why his father was so angry that his mother had told him about soulmates. Soulmates were supposed to make you happy forever, weren't they?

His mother explained it to him several nights later, once he had worked up the courage to ask her.

"Not everyone is blessed with a soulmate, Cedric," she explained in a hushed voice. "And some people who have a soulmate never find theirs."

He was struck speechless for a moment and his gray eyes widened in fear as he gazed up at his mother. There was a chance he'd never find his soulmate?

"Do you think I'll find them?"

She smiled softly at him. "Magic always finds a way, dearest."

In the moment, he was quite disheartened with such an evasive response but as his mother bid him goodnight, he made a silent promise to Magic itself that he would find his other half.

One day.

* * *

**Two**

Hermione Granger was already proving to be a strange child.

At age two, her parents had walked into her bedroom to find Hermione sitting on the floor and clapping in excitement as her toys hovered above her head. At age three, she would be found reading books that had been put on the highest shelves. In preschool, a boy that had ripped a book from her hands while on the playground had been found later with bright red hair that couldn't be washed out.

She was also an incredibly bright child. She was reading books and newspapers before she could speak and, when she did begin to talk, her language was far more advanced than most children her age. Her father always teased that it was a side effect of naming her after a Shakespeare character.

Hermione was four the first time she dealt with sudden and short bursts of nausea, and she was seven when her face became slightly puffy, mumbling nonstop for two days straight.

This latest unusual happenstance was clumped into the second categorical description of Hermione Granger.

Her parents had taken her to three different physicians and even done their own additional research, but had come up empty-handed. They tried antihistamines, on the off chance that her facial swelling was from a newfound allergy but none of the medicines changed her symptoms. Even the mumbling was unable to be stopped; while Hermione was sometimes known to mutter to herself when reading, she had always been able to curtail her habit when it was pointed out. Now, her parents had kept her home from school for two days in the hopes that whatever was happening would soon run its course.

Late on the second day, about thirty minutes after another one of Hermione's sudden bouts of nausea, her parents let out a sigh of relief as her symptoms magically disappeared.

This was only one small instance of the various odd things that happened to Hermione throughout the years. Most of them were explained by the fact that she was a witch, but her sudden illnesses would still baffle her for quite some time.

* * *

**Three**

When Cedric Diggory was welcomed into the Hufflepuff house family, he temporarily forgot all about his hopes for finding his soulmate.. Everything else was so exciting and overwhelming– he was able to learn more magic, he had a whole castle to explore, and he had friends now! More than he'd ever had as a child at home, as he only ever played with the Weasley boys or other children of his parents' friends. But at Hogwarts, he had all his year-mates to get to know and the older students as well.

But he couldn't forget about soulmates for long, not in a school full of magical children searching for their own.

It was in his second week of school when a first-year half-blood student from Gryffindor was sent to the hospital wing with mumblemumps. Apparently, their letter had arrived so soon before the school year, they hadn't had time to get inoculated at St. Mungos. Cedric was suddenly glad he'd already had the illness when he was six, as he'd have no chance of catching it now.

The whispers started soon after.

Another first-year pureblood in Slytherin had started mumbling as well, and his roommates even said that his face looked slightly swollen. Madam Pomfrey's scan was negative on her, however, and that led to the final piece in the puzzle. When the two students had touched, the Slytherin's symptoms had vanished and the Gryffindor recovered quickly enough to rejoin classes the next day. By the following Monday, Adrian Pucey and Alicia Spinnet were almost inseparable.

Suddenly, Cedric's wish of finding his soulmate was something shared by practically the entire school. It seemed like it was all anyone would talk about in their free time as students discussed their dream soulmates.

When the topic was all but banned from classes after several students tried to purposefully make themselves sick in order to find theirs, everyone's interest only increased. Stories were swapped of past instances of "SSS" or "soulmate sickness symptoms," as they quickly became coined.

His best mate, Wayne Hopkins, was the only person Cedric told of his own past SSS. In all other conversations, Cedric would just smile and shrug, leaving them to make their own conclusions. This was one part of himself that he didn't want the world to know.

* * *

**Four**

Hermione Granger had read as many books about the magical world as she could in the eleven months before she had gone to Hogwarts, but it wasn't until her third month in Gryffindor that she heard about soulmates.

It was during Harry's first Quidditch game, remarkably, that she learned of their existence from the game's commentator. Lee Jordan had been having great fun in giving biased introductions of all of the players.

"_Angelina Johnson, and what a shame that she turned down a date with yours truly; Marcus Flint, of course, all brawn and no brain, I can't believe he was chosen as Captain. And last but not least, on opposite sides as always, Adrian Pucey and Alicia Spinnet: they may be soulmates but all's fair in love and war when it comes to a Quidditch match!"_

Soulmates were something for fairytales and storybooks, worlds of happy endings. They couldn't be real. Hermione resolved to take it up with her roommates that night; if anyone would know about it, she was sure Lavender Brown would.

As it turned out, her four roommates were just as interested in talking about the subject.

"Can you imagine it?" Parvati Patil asked dreamily as she hugged one of Lavender's pillows since all five girls were now lounging on her bed. "Meeting your soulmate in your first weeks at Hogwarts?"

"So soulmates are truly real?" Lily Moon asked with wide eyes, pausing from braiding Fay Dunbar's hair. She was a muggleborn like Hermione and she had been the one to start that night's conversation.

Fay began to nod her head but stopped when Lily snapped at her not to move until she was finished. "Sorry, Lily. But soulmates are real! My parents are soulmates, they found each other when some pox went through the school twenty years ago."

Her voice lowered a bit as she then spoke in a reverent whisper. "I know I have one too! My parents thought I had a case of some unknown pox one time, but all the healers' scans said I was healthy! They said it was most likely a case of SSS: soulmate sickness symptoms."

Lavender and Parvati gasped in sync. "You're so lucky, Fay!" Lavender gushed.

"The sign of having a soulmate is feeling the symptoms of an illness when you're not actually ill?" Hermione asked, tilting her head slightly in curiosity. At the three magical-raised girls' affirmative reactions, she started to think back to any time in the past she had suspiciously seemed sick.

"Is there a... sickness in the magical world where your face feels puffy? I think I talked non-stop then as well."

"There is mumblemumps…" Fay responded slowly before realization set in and her eyes widened. "You mean, you might have a soulmate too?!"

Lily's gaze met Hermione's questioningly as she finished tying off Fay's braid. "What do you mean, 'might?'" The other girl asked their roommates.

Lavender chewed on her lip nervously before answering. "My parents are soulmates too, so they liked to talk about the stories a lot. But they did warn me… what was it they said? Oh! 'Not everyone has a chosen soulmate, and not all soulmates meet in their lifetimes.'"

"That's quite sad," Hermione said and the other girls nodded in agreement.

"That's true," Lavender conceded. "We just have to focus on the happy parts and what could be instead."

"Exactly! And really, the odds are in our favor," Parvati added. "Already in our house are two confirmed pairs–"

Hermione interrupted her. "Sorry, but who's the second pair?"

"Oh, the Weasley twins! They're _obviously_ each other's 'other half,' they even practically share a brain!" The five girls dissolved into laughter at Parvati's explanation. "But really! Two pairs, and both two years above us. It's about time for another Gryffindor soul pair, in my opinion."

* * *

**Five**

When Cedric felt his blood run cold, he first looked around and wondered if someone had hexed him with a freezing charm as some sort of prank. Nothing was out of place, though– no raised wands, no laughing, no hidden clusters of students. Everyone in the locker room was busy putting on their own uniforms and doing last checks of their own gear. He shrugged it off and turned back to his own locker, thinking it maybe was a case of before-game nerves.

Their captain, Carol Brant, grabbed their attention once it was time to head out. "Alright, team: let's go catch ourselves a win!" They all joined in as she started the team chant, but Cedric's voice was considerably quieter than the rest for once. He didn't want to shout his voice raw before the game if it turned out he was sick.

Cedric moved to follow his teammates out onto the field but they were all stopped outside of their tent by Professor Sprout.

"I'm afraid the match today has been canceled– and all matches for the foreseeable future, in fact," she told them solemnly. "Two more students have been petrified in an attack."

Two of his teammates dropped their brooms in shock at the news. Hufflepuff house had personally been affected by the attack on Justin Finch-Fletchey earlier in the year, and he hoped they hadn't lost another one of their housemates. (Even if that was a selfish thought.) Another chill made him shiver… was it getting colder out? He unconsciously pulled his Quidditch robes tighter around him.

"Hey Ced, are you feeling okay?" Chaser Heidi Macavoy's question caused him to look up and find his teammates and professor all looking at him worriedly.

"I think so," he said, even though his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "I started feeling cold a few minutes ago, maybe I'm coming down with an illness…"

"Mr. Diggory," Professor Sprout cut in, the softer tone to her voice keeping him from arguing. "How long ago did this feeling start?"

"Um… at least fifteen minutes? At least, that's when I started to notice it."

Cedric found himself pinned under her intense gaze for a moment before she nodded and gestured with her hand for him to follow her. "Come with me, please. Miss Brant, please escort yourself and your team members back to the Den as quickly as possible; I would rather you change in the safety of your rooms if you don't mind."

After a chorus of "Yes, Professor_,_" she turned on her heel towards the Gryffindor tent, leaving Cedric no choice but to follow her.

They stopped a few meters away from where Professor McGonagall was informing her house's team, and Cedric looked up briefly as Professor Dumbledore's magically amplified voice rang out among the stadium. He didn't need to hear the murmuring students in the crowd to understand their confusion as they swarmed back to the castle under instructions to return to their dormitories.

Once the Gryffindor team was headed back to the castle alongside the rest, Professor McGonagall strode over to where they were waiting with two of her students in tow. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley had certainly made a name for themselves, yet outside of seeing Potter fly in his previous matches, Cedric had never paid close attention to either of them. Both were fidgeting as they were told to stand next to him while their Heads of Houses set up a privacy charm that allowed them to speak without the three of them eavesdropping.

After several heartbeats of awkward silence, Cedric couldn't take it anymore. "Do you two know why they wanted us?"

Weasley merely gave him a half-hearted shrug, while Potter shook his head and gave him a verbal response. "No, Professor McGonagall brought Ron with her and only said there was another attack and that we needed to come with her."

Cedric tried to nod in acknowledgment, but he was thwarted by another bout of shivers. Not for the first time, he wished their uniforms offered more warmth. He began to rub his hands up and down his arms in an effort to create some sort of heat with the friction.

Just as he hoped the professors would hurry up so he could go to the castle and sit by the fireplace in the Hufflepuff Den, Professor Sprout canceled the privacy charm. Both teachers came over to collect them.

"You'll all have to follow us now, if you don't mind," his Head of House explained before she began walking back to the castle at a quick pace. "I'd like to get Mr. Diggory examined as soon as possible."

"But, Professors, why do you need me and Harry?" Weasley asked as he and Potter jogged slightly to keep up.

"I'll explain once we arrive, Mr. Weasley," Professor McGonagall curtly replied, leaving them to journey in silence for the rest of the way through the school.

Once they arrived at the hospital wing, Professor McGonagall led the two Gryffindors to an area where several beds were obscured by curtains while Professor Sprout had him go and lie down on an empty bed near the door. He was sorely tempted to bury himself under the covers if it would help chase away the chill he felt.

Madam Pomfrey soon hustled out of her office and came to stand next to him, speaking in low voices with Professor Sprout as she did so.

"Hold still, dear," she gently ordered as she glided her wand over him and performed several scans, humming as she viewed each result. "Oh, another one?"

"What? What is it?" He asked, only to be hushed in return.

"Just a second, Mr. Diggory," Madam Pomfrey scolded him. "If you wouldn't mind fetching Minerva for me, Pomona?"

With both Professors next to the bed and Cedric now sitting up, Madam Pomfrey activated a rune on the bedframe and erected a privacy ward around them. "Mr. Diggory, both your professor's suspicions seem to be well-founded. It appears-"

"Suspicions? What are you talking about?"

"It appears," she went on after holding up a hand for him to stop talking, "that you're currently undergoing... soulmate sickness symptoms, as I know you students are fond of calling it. Another student in a known soul-pair is in a similar state to you today."

Everything in his mind stopped. He actually had a soulmate? Rather, he knew he did, but he'd never experienced anything like this before in terms of SSS! Fear suddenly surged through him, and he made to jump off of the bed. "Then, something's wrong with my soulmate? There must be a way to find and help them!"

"There's no need to rush, Mr. Diggory," Professor McGonagall sighed. "Based on your symptoms and the time they appeared, I'm afraid we know what's occurred."

"The timing? But it only started when I was in the locker room, a bit before…" He trailed off, his eyes growing wide from a combination of shock and fright. "The petrified student?" He barely choked out the question before he began to feel numb, and reached his hands out for something to brace against. "Who was it?"

"Mr. Diggory…"

"Who was attacked?!"

Professor McGonagall pursed her lips at his tone but told him regardless. "Hermione Granger."

That was all it took for Cedric to finally jump up and run around the three staff members, pushing harshly past the barriers that kept the petrified students blocked from view. Potter and Weasley were huddled on either side of the best closest to him, and he found himself automatically moving to stand next to Potter as his eyes fell on the girl frozen stiff on the bed.

Petrified… no wonder he felt so cold.

The first thing he noticed was how blank her eyes were. They stared straight at the compact mirror that was still clenched in her hand and yet there was no emotion, no flicker of life in them at all. She looked scared, but not surprised– like she had known who her attacker was and was only scared that they had found her. She was awkwardly bent like she had been crouching, even though she was laid onto the bed (a terrible consequence of petrification). He didn't even realize he had reached an arm out to touch her outstretched hand, but the feel of her cold skin beneath his finally broke him out of his shock.

Potter and Weasley were staring at him in a mixture of confusion and offense. "Oi! What do you think you're doing?" Weasley asked angrily, while Potter pushed his hand away from Hermione's.

"Mr. Diggory! Control yourself!"

He was breathing heavily and sank unsteadily to the floor. "She's my soulmate," he said brokenly, still gazing up at her unmoving form. "Someone did this to my soulmate."

"Professor, what's he talking about?" He heard Potter say. That's right, he heard rumors about him being raised by his muggle relatives; Potter wouldn't know about soulmates being real.

"In the magical world, soulmates are an individual's other half. When one is ill, the other is able to feel it through their bond. Mr. Diggory is the third half of a pair this year to exhibit the same soulmate sickness symptoms."

He didn't first notice when someone else sat down on the floor next to him but he finally took his eyes off Hermione as his hand was grasped tightly. He found himself meeting the tearful green eyes of one of his year-mates, Yvonne Bampton.

"Penelope's been petrified, too. She was with Hermione," she told him in a scratchy voice. It was clear she'd been crying for a while.

"Penelope… she's yours?" He asked, ignoring the staff's ongoing explanation to Potter and Weasley. He felt slightly guilty, knowing it was their friend who was attacked but at the same time he couldn't give a fuck. How were they to know what losing a soulmate felt like?

"Do you… are you cold too? I can't… I guess ever since she was attacked… and I didn't even know who she was before now!" His breathing became shallower as his voice rose and his words continued to spill out.

Yvonne's tears finally broke free of their dams and began trailing down her cheeks. "Me too," she whispered. "It's okay, you're not alone, we're not alone…"

Cedric clung to her hands as if they were the only things keeping him afloat in the ocean of grief he was drowning in.

* * *

**Six**

In the next few weeks, Cedric found himself wandering through the halls of Hogwarts like a ghost following the footsteps of his previous life. He woke up, ate, went to classes, studied, and slept – over and over again. The cold still chilled him down to the bone and, while it hadn't grown worse after the first day, he still feared he'd see his breath condense into wispy clouds each time he spoke.

The one thing he never skipped was visiting the hospital wing. Every day after supper, he could be found sitting in a chair next to Hermione's bed. The first two days he had sat his vigil in silence, rethinking every lost possibility he had in the past few years to find her.

On the third day, he couldn't stand his own silence anymore, so he brought a book with him. He'd done as much research on petrification as he could but none of it mentioned if the victims' minds were frozen and thus asleep under the curse. So, on the off-chance that his soulmate was still awake (a terrifying thought he tried not to dwell on), Cedric had decided to read aloud to her during his visits.

He knew she was a muggleborn, so he had borrowed a book from his roommate Scott Martins that was apparently popular in the Muggle world. He had never heard of Tolkien before, and he hoped that Hermione hadn't read this series either so at least she would be interested by it.

Yvonne had nodded at him when she came in to visit Penelope. He made sure to keep his voice down respectfully when she started stroking the Ravenclaw's hair and talked about her day.

After quickly becoming friends, he and Yvonne were often seen together as they took solace in the fact that someone else truly understood the heavy loss they felt. He had heard the various rumors that had started because of their newfound friendship despite being classmates for four years. The majority included pieces of the truth since a good portion of Ravenclaw house knew about Penelope and Yvonne's soulbond. There were, however, always a few nastier lies that seeped through the castle. There was one that he and Yvonne were soulmates and another that Yvonne was cheating on Penelope. One was so upsetting that Scott had hexed Marcus Flint for spreading it; that he had convinced the Heir to petrify Penelope and Hermione to be with Yvonne. Cedric ignored them all, instead, pouring himself into his schoolwork as an attempt at distracting himself.

On the sixth day, he and Yvonne chatted together on their way into the hospital wing after an early supper and almost missed the lone figure moving to the corner near their soulmates. The two hadn't hesitated before pulling out their wands, causing the student to flinch in surprise once she caught sight of them. Cedric only glanced at her tie before lowering his wand, gesturing at Yvonne to do the same. This was one of his housemates; she wasn't a threat to the petrified students.

The story spilled out of the younger Hufflepuff– Hannah Abbot? Cedric was fairly sure that was her name– as she rubbed at her red-rimmed eyes.

"I didn't know!" She sniffled. "I've been feeling so _cold_ and empty for so long, and I didn't know it was because of Justin!" His eyes flickered to the still brunette boy laying next to Penelope. "But then I heard from some of the Ravenclaw girls talking about Brampton and Clearwater–"

"Gossipy little bints," Yvonne snarled, causing Cedric to smile briefly in amusement.

"- and I checked my diary and the day I first felt like this was when Justin was attacked! And I came here and I think it's true and he's my soulmate and I didn't know…!"

The blonde girl dissolved into tears and Cedric found himself moving to hug her just as Yvonne did for him. He wanted to comfort her because she was a fellow badger and she was hurting and hadn't known her soulmate… the similarities weren't lost on him.

"I didn't know either," he told her in a hushed voice as she clutched at his robes. "But it's okay. Now you do know he's yours, and Madam Pomfrey will be able to heal him soon so he'll be alright and so will you."

On the twelfth day, Cedric was seated with Hannah at the Hufflepuff table during breakfast when he noticed a hush spread over the students. The two turned in their seats to find Harry Potter standing behind them, fidgeting slightly from the reception his approach had received.

"Diggory, can I talk to you?" The second-year asked in a low voice, trying not to draw any more attention to himself.

Cedric shrugged. He knew that there was no chance Potter was the Heir of Slytherin after Hermione was petrified. There were still a few dissenters in his house, but most of them kept their opinions to themselves now.

"Sure. In the Entrance Hall?" He suggested, and Potter visibly relaxed as he nodded in agreement. With a word to Hannah for her to watch his bag, Cedric led them away from the gathered students.

He stopped them near the outer wall, far enough away from either staircase that they couldn't be easily overheard. "What is it, Potter?"

Potter shuffled his feet nervously before he reached into his bag and pulled out a bundle securely wrapped in a Gryffindor scarf. He held it out firmly to Cedric, who took it gently into his own hands.

"People were saying you were Hermione's soulmate," he started awkwardly, keeping his eyes on what was now in Cedric's hands. "So I tried to learn more about them. It turns out my parents were soulmates." There was a small but sincere smile on the boy's face. "That's Hermione's scarf and her favorite book. I thought you should have those, at least until Hermione's awake." Potter's words rushed out of him and his gaze finally rose to meet Cedric's.

Cedric carefully unwound the scarf from the book, staring at both reverently. These were _hers…_ and apparently, her best friend approved of him enough to give them to him. "Hold this for a moment, yeah?" He asked, his voice full of awe. With Potter holding the book, his hands were now free to wrap her scarf around his neck. For once, the constant cold he felt seemed to ebb. Accepting the book back, Cedric had to keep himself from hugging it to his chest. "Thanks, Potter. And if you ever need anything–"

"It's Harry," the boy interrupted while pushing his glasses back up his nose as if the action was part of his name.

Cedric nearly grinned. "Thanks, Harry. But really, if you ever do need anything, feel free to ask."

The bewildered eyes of his Hufflepuff housemates followed him as he returned to his seat. He could hear a few begin to ask him about Potter and the Gryffindor scarf, but he ignored them and merely smiled at Hannah before resuming his breakfast. Her eyes widened slightly as she glanced at the scarf and then back up at his newfound smile before telling the other badgers to back off, because it was _her _scarf and there was nothing wrong with him wearing it!

And if Cedric skipped his first class to instead start reading _Hogwarts: A History_ to Hermione, well, there was nothing wrong with that either.

On the sixteenth day, Cedric's routine was smashed to bits.

* * *

**Seven**

He was heading to the hospital wing with Yvonne and Hannah as usual when Professor McGonagall's amplified voice stopped them in their tracks.

"All students, please report to your dormitories immediately. If all staff would please meet me in the Teacher's Lounge."

Yvonne looked at the two of them Hufflepuffs warily. "That can't be good news."

Hannah began to tremble like a leaf as the sound of dozens of footsteps began to echo through the halls from their classmates returning to their common rooms. "Do you think there's been another attack?"

At this point, there was really nothing else the announcement could mean. He feared the worst but didn't want to cause Hannah any more stress. The only words he could think of were, "It's likely," as he tugged on Hermione's scarf where it still hung around his neck.

For the first time in days, he felt colder.

Yvonne tried to shrug nonchalantly, but Cedric could tell that she was afraid too. "We might as well go to the hospital wing," she said. "Madam Pomfrey will be there, and if anything happens, there are protective wards." He didn't know that but wasn't surprised that she would.

Cedric nodded in agreement as he put one arm around Hannah's shoulders and began leading the three of them down the hall towards the Grand Staircase. The Gryffindor and Ravenclaw common rooms were upstairs anyways, so hopefully, no one would notice the three of them heading in that direction.

Luck didn't seem to be on their side. As they rounded the corner, Cedric barely managed to stop them from running directly into Professor Lockhart, who was followed closely by Harry Potter and Ron Weasley (because who else would it be?). He wondered why the two second years were running around the halls during an emergency with perhaps the most useless professor on staff but honestly, they had bigger problems at this point.

Harry gasped in relief when he saw who they were. "Cedric!" He said in a rush. "You've got to help us! Ginny Weasley's been taken into the Chamber of Secrets, and we're going after her. You've got to tell Professor McGonagall and the other teachers that–"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down," Cedric said, holding out one hand to stop Harry's verbal vomit.

"The Chamber of Secrets is real?" Yvonne cut in just as he opened his mouth to speak.

"There's no time!" Harry reprimanded them. "Please, just go tell the professors we'll be in Moaning Myrtle's lavatory. Hopefully, we'll be able to get her before it's too late." He looked up at Cedric pleadingly.

Cedric knew he had promised Harry to do anything, but he also knew the two Gryffindor boys before him would be better off with some backup. Besides, the last time anything like this had happened, Hermione had been with them… he owed it to her to make sure her best friends stayed safe.

"Yvonne, Hannah: go," he said. "Get Professor McGonagall or Sprout so they can get to us as quickly as possible. I'm going with Harry." Hannah was staring at him fearfully (Hufflepuff already had one petrified student), but Yvonne met his gaze evenly as he nudged Hannah gently towards her.

"We've got your back," Yvonne told him before turning and rushing off down the hall, Hannah's wrist in her grasp.

"Be safe, Cedric!" Hannah called to him but Cedric barely heard her as he was already following after Harry, Ron, and Professor Lockhart.

Out of all the strange entrances in Hogwarts, including tickling a pear to get into the kitchens, Cedric was completely surprised by the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets being in a girl's lavatory.

"You're sure it's here?" He couldn't help but ask after they arrived.

"Pretty sure," Harry muttered as he slowly wandered the room, looking around. Cedric wanted to help, but he had no idea what Harry was even looking for.

He glanced over in surprise as Ron spoke up. "The thing's been going through the bloody pipes in the school," he said, not looking away from the fidgeting Lockheart. "No place better to get into the pipes than from a washroom, yeah?"

The room grew colder at his words, and this time Cedric knew for sure it wasn't due to his SSS. "What do you mean?" He asked slowly, not knowing if he actually wanted to hear the answer.

Lockhart scoffed from where Ron was holding him at wand point against a row of sinks. "These boys say that a basilisk has been attacking students; surely they're joking."

Cedric didn't need to see Ron shake his head in denial to know they weren't lying. These two weren't Gryffindor's pranksters, even the Weasley twins wouldn't joke about something this important.

It seemed Moaning Myrtle agreed with Harry and Ron's deduction. She floated out of one of the stalls, pausing to glare at Lockhart and sent a smile towards Cedric before she drifted closer to Harry.

"Oooh, back again, Harry? Are you here looking for that ginger-haired girl?" She cooed.

"Ginny was here?"

Myrtle nodded. "Oh, yes. She walked over to those sinks – like usual, and always without a hello! – and made a strange hissing noise so one of the sinks would slide out of the way! I always stay away when I hear that sound…"

Harry glanced at Cedric and Ron worriedly before turning back towards Myrtle. "Myrtle… Do you mind me asking how you died?"

Cedric hadn't known ghosts could blush until that moment. "Oh, it was _dreadful!_" She said proudly. "I was here, in that stall, when I heard the same hissing sound that girl made! Except it sounded deeper, like a boy had made it." She shrugged. "I went out to tell him off for being in a girl's lavatory, but I saw these great big yellow eyes, and well– I _died._"

All four male's eyes were wide now, but Harry managed to stutter out a polite thank her before moving to the central column of sinks that she had pointed. It took a moment, but Harry's eyes became slightly unfocused and he let out a long hiss. Cedric had been there at the failed dueling lesson earlier that year and he knew that Harry was now speaking Parseltongue. If they were up against a basilisk, he really hoped that Harry was able to control it.

The sinks slid away to reveal a dark hole in the ground, with what looked like the top of a concrete slide at the rim. Harry stepped back and turned to the three of them appraisingly. "Professor Lockhart, why don't you go first? That way, you can make sure it's safe. You know," he added with a smirk worthy of a Slytherin, "since you're so experienced?"

Cedric had never heard a faker laugh in his life. "But surely now that we've found the entrance, we can gather the rest of the teachers?" Lockhart feebly suggested.

Lockhart yelped as Ron poked his wand into his side warningly. "That's my sister down there," he hissed. "You're _going_, fraud or not."

Ah, so they had discovered that Lockhart was a fraud. Cedric didn't need to hear any more. He drew his wand and aimed it at the professor, flicking his head towards the entrance. Lockhart weakly walked over to it, attempting to peer down into the black oblivion.

"Are we sure this is a good idea?" He asked, but the end of his sentence trailed off into a startled scream as Ron leaned forward and pushed him into the hole.

The redhead shrugged defensively as Cedric and Harry stared at him. "At least we know that we'll survive the ride down there," he pointed out. Cedric tried to keep himself from grinning.

"I'll go next," he offered. "Just in case Lockhart tries to get up to something." With a nod from both Gryffindors, Cedric took a deep breath and slid into the hole.

He wasn't sure whether it was from thousands of years of sediment or from a great ruddy snake sliding up the pipe, but going down the slide had left a bunch of disgusting muck all over his robes. Cedric was incredibly glad that he knew the _Scourgify_ charm once he landed at the bottom. When Harry and Ron had joined him and Lockhart down below, he cleaned the other two boys off (completely ignoring Lockhart's sputtering about his ruined robes) before they started to head deeper into the cavern.

As the most advanced of the three students, seeing as Lockhart didn't have a wand(even though he was probably more advanced than the fraud with a wand), Cedric stayed at the front just in case they were ambushed. Though he'd be out of luck against a basilisk with nothing reflective around, he prayed that if he did get caught under the basilisk's stare it would be quick.

He stayed silent as the passed piles of rotting bones and crept around old snake skins longer than he could have ever imagined. The newest looking one seemed over 30 feet long and he desperately hoped that it wasn't the skin of the snake that they were currently hunting.

Being ahead of the others meant he missed the conversation leading up to Lockhart attacking Ron and snatching his wand away in the ensuing scuffle. Cedric turned around once he heard Ron's angry shout but by then, Lockhart was pointing Ron's wand at the three of them instead. According to Lockhart's rambling, he was good at Obliviation charms but Cedric knew he couldn't hit all three of them at once, so he kept his wand raised as he waited for the right moment to stun the professor.

That moment never came, as Lockhart's charm rebounded in a bright explosion that sent him stumbling into Ron and falling back away from Harry and Cedric. Harry let out a cry as he started to move towards his friend, but Cedric heard the rumbling above their heads and made a split-second decision to pull Harry back. As they fell to the ground in a tangled heap, the ceiling came down on the area between them, blocking the redhead and their teacher from their sight.

"Are you okay?" Cedric asked after they both stopped coughing once the cloud of dirt and debris settled.

"I think so," Harry replied, his voice a bit raspy. "Thanks." He slowly climbed to his feet, offering Cedric a hand after he did. Cedric took it with a murmured thanks as they both walked closer to the cave-in.

"Ron, you alright?" Harry called.

There was a moment of silence before they heard a response. "I'm fine! Not sure about Lockhart… I think he hit himself with that spell." Another pause. "You two keep going and find Ginny! I'll start clearing the way."

Cedric hesitated as Harry nodded in response and began heading further into the tunnel. Could Ron really do much with a backfiring wand? In the end, it didn't matter unless they made it out alive. He turned to follow after Harry but paused for a moment to take off Hermione's scarf and leave it gently folded at the base of the cave-in. He silently said to himself that he'd come back and retrieve it as his promise to his soulmate to make it out safely with her friends. With a final look at her scarf, he left to catch up to Harry.

The two walked in silence for several more minutes until they found themselves faced with a circular metal door ringed by giant snake motifs. It stretched from the floor to the ceiling of the wall in front of them. Cedric first wondered how they would be able to get such a heavy door open but then he looked back at the large snakes and had an idea.

"Harry, can you speak parseltongue again to make this open?"

Harry tilted his head slightly as he observed the door. He didn't answer Cedric when he spoke but instead came the same hissing noise as he'd produced earlier to move the sink.

For some reason, he expected the door to make a screeching or groaning sound as the snakes moved and the door swung open but to his surprise, it was fairly quiet. He just mentally shrugged it off, assuming it was due to magic. In the long run, it wasn't important.

Cedric entered the chamber first.

The first thing he noticed was the large statue of Salazar Slytherin's face at the far end of the chamber (something that was incredibly similar to the sketch of him in _Hogwarts: A History_). He'd be lying if he said he wasn't enraptured by the sight for several seconds.

The second thing he noticed was the still body lying in the middle of the chamber, her bright orange hair fanned out around her head like a halo. He rushed over to her, his feet splashing in the puddles of water that littered the stone floor. Cedric fell to his knees next to her and put a hand onto her chest, sighing in relief when he could feel her heartbeat.

The third thing he noticed was a worn, black notebook laying on the floor next to Ginny. Assuming it was hers, he tucked the book into his robes for safekeeping.

The fourth thing he noticed was Harry coming to stand next to him. "Oh god," he heard him mutter. "Ginny!"

The fifth thing he noticed was the boy coming out of the shadows on the sides of the chamber, slowly clapping as he neared them. He was tall, his hair was jet black and slicked back. His Slytherin uniform was immaculate and, for a moment, Cedric swore there was a hint of red to his eyes.

"Young Ginevra won't be waking up, I'm afraid," the boy said in a silky smooth voice, his eyes glinting dangerously.

He didn't listen to much of what Tom Riddle's shade had to say while it was monologuing to Harry (because of _course,_ it was interested in Harry bloody Potter). Instead, Cedric focused on Ginny Weasley. His daily visits to the infirmary had allowed him to be present for a fair number of injuries and magical mishaps that merited trips to the hospital wing. After inquiring about several spells she used in her rounds, Madame Pomfrey had taught several basic scans and healing spells to him, Yvonne, and even Hannah. He thanked Merlin for these newfound skills as he now used them on her.

Ginny wasn't in good shape. Her magical core was rapidly draining, and Cedric was only able to slow it down slightly by healing the minor bruises and scrapes she had, so her magic wouldn't be expended on those as well. The one cut he couldn't heal was a gash across her left palm and Cedric had a sinking feeling that it was self-induced. That meant blood magic, and now he knew exactly how Tom Riddle stood before them.

It was only further confirmed by Riddle himself that Ginny acted as his heir, right before he revealed his true identity to Cedric and Harry with a wave of fiery letters.

Cedric could certainly say he hadn't been expecting to meet Voldemort when he slid into the Chamber of Secrets

Most of what Harry and Riddle were saying went over his head, but he didn't tune them out entirely. Hopefully, he'd be able to make a good pensive memory out of this; he knew his parents may find some of Riddle's information useful. After all, they had been involved in the first war against Voldemort– they'd probably appreciate knowing Riddle was a half-blood.

Cedric's full attention was drawn away from Ginny once again as Harry called out in defense of Dumbledore when Riddle lauded his actions at getting the Headmaster ousted by the School Board.

Personally, he'd never felt one way or another towards Dumbledore until last year, when he had awarded Gryffindor the House Cup at the last minute. He had been torn- while he was excited that Slytherin had finally lost the cup, his sportsmanship side knew it wasn't fair to anyone in the school for such blatant favoritism to happen.

However, he wasn't about to complain after Dumbledore's phoenix swooped in carrying the Sorting Hat of all things as if it had been called by Harry's declaration of support.

Cedric wasn't sure what Riddle had hissed in parseltongue, but Harry's eyes widened dramatically. They both turned as they heard marble grinding against itself to see the mouth of the statue of Salazar Slytherin was opening.

"Not good?" He guessed aloud, groaning as Harry nodded in confirmation. He moved to raise his wand in defense, but turned back and first levitated Ginny over to an enclosed alcove where he hoped she'd be safe from harm.

He ran back over to Harry as the sound of scales sliding over stone echoed from the open mouth of Salazar Slytherin.

"Is that it?" He asked the Gryffindor, his voice wavering even though he would later deny it. "The basilisk?"

"Hermione figured it out! Don't look at the eyes!" Harry ordered as he stared resolutely at the floor.

'_Of course she figured it out,'_ Cedric thought with a rush of pride and thankfulness towards his soulmate. They hadn't even properly spoken and yet she was still here, protecting him.

Everything happened rather quickly once the basilisk emerged with a scream that rattled him to his core. Fawkes had certainly saved him and Harry by blinding the serpent after it almost struck Harry when he slipped and fell in a , it quickly dissolved into a game of cat and mouse between them and the snake in the tunnels around the chambers.

After losing track of the basilisk in the pipes, Cedric assumed it was after Harry again and made his way back to the main chamber to wait for them to emerge. He wasn't left in suspense for long as the sound of footsteps splashing in puddles echoed around the chamber for several moments before Harry came rushing out. Cedric sent a blasting charm at the basilisk as its head came out of the pipe, but the charm did no visible damage and seemed to serve only as a mild nuisance.

The distraction was valuable for Harry though, as he paused to pick up the Sorting Hat at Riddle's taunting and stuck his hand within. Cedric's jaw dropped open as Harry pulled out a gleaming sword with a ruby-encrusted handle.

He may be a Hufflepuff through and through, but he _had_ been reading '_Hogwarts: A History'_ to Hermione for the past several days. That book had been full of legends and lost relics of the Hogwarts founders and the sword Harry was now holding was a familiar sight after seeing the drawings on the pages about Godric Gryffindor.

Of course, Harry Potter would manage to find the fabled Sword of Gryffindor.

In Cedric's opinion, there was no one better to wield it.

Harry ran to confront the basilisk, succeeding in slicing its lower sides with the sword but it was clear his actions were serving only to enrage the beast. He darted to the side as the serpent lunged down, leaving a crater in the concrete where Harry had just been standing and Cedric knew he couldn't just stand by.

'_Think, think Cedric! Spells don't work directly on it…'_ Cedric's eyes darted around as he looked for anything he could make into a weapon, until he realized the basilisk was still at the sides of the chamber, very near the marble columns. '_Those ought to be heavy enough!'_

Cedric made a split-second decision: he moved his wand up and away from the serpent, narrowed his eyes, and prayed for magic's sake that he'd miss Harry. "_Bombarda Maxima!"_

His spell aimed true and hit the inside edge of one of the chamber's pillars with a loud explosion. The pillar began to fall forwards, and Cedric let out a raw shout of victory as it crashed on top of the basilisk. The serpent opened its mouth wide and writhed in pain under the crushing weight. He quickly realized the pillar must have crushed its spine as only the front part of the snake was moving.

Thankfully, the marble slab had fallen back far enough that Harry had been out of range of the falling debris, and he took the open opportunity to spear the Sword of Gryffindor up into the basilisk's mouth.

The basilisk fell dead with a resonating thud that made the chamber shake to the choir of Riddle's furious screams. Harry pulled the sword free and stumbled backward unsteadily, so Cedric rushed over to help steady him. As he helped Harry sit on the ground, he noticed the basilisk fang sticking out of Harry's arm. Although he knew it was already too late, Cedric pulled the fang free and put it on the floor in his line of sight so they wouldn't accidentally cut themselves on it.

"Harry…" Anything Cedric had wanted to say trailed off as the severity of Harry's injury sank in. Basilisk venom was fatal, and with Harry being on the smaller side… he didn't have much time left.

Riddle gleefully echoed his thoughts. "Do you feel that, Potter? The basilisk venom coursing through your veins will kill you in a matter of minutes now. Finally, the Boy-Who-Lived will be dead alongside Ginny Weasley, and Lord Voldemort will reign once again!"

"Oh shut up, Tom," Harry muttered through his gritted teeth as his head fell heavily against Cedric's shoulder. "Cedric, leave now, take Ginny before he traps you both in here– oh hello, Fawkes, what are you doing?"

The phoenix had coasted to land by Harry's side and bent its head over his cursed wound. The bird was crying, and both boys watched in amazement as the tears began to knit the wound closed and the venom sizzled into harmless wisps of smoke.

Fawkes looked up and blinked slowly at Harry, nudged his head against Cedric's robe pocket, and spread his wings to fly circles around the Chamber of Secrets. Cedric withdrew the diary he had stashed in his pocket and looked at the inside page curiously. Riddle began to rant at Harry for surviving with the help of phoenix tears and that it mattered not, for he would soon be able to kill Harry himself.

The only written words in the diary were "T. M. Riddle," and, as Cedric thought back to his observation of Ginny Weasley, he remembered his conclusion about blood magic being involved. He knew blood magic needed a vessel if one party was no longer alive (something he had learned from watching his father make magical portraits for wizarding families throughout his childhood) and this diary may as well be it. Now he just needed something that could destroy a magical presence…

The discarded basilisk fang caught his eye. '_That works.'_

Cedric acted on his theory, snatching up the fang to stab it into the diary. Riddle's scream had to be a good sign, so Cedric kept stabbing the diary, uncaring that ink was splattering all over his hands and face. Only once the room was silent once again, did Cedric stop and cautiously look up to be met with Harry's awestruck gaze.

"Bloody hell, Cedric! That was brilliant!"

Cedric let out a bark of laughter and self-consciously ran a hand through his hair, streaking it with ink, as his adrenaline rush began to recede. "You're one to talk, Mr. Basilisk Slayer."

Harry grinned back at him before they both stilled as a frightened shriek rang out. "That's Ginny!"

The two rushed over to the alcove Cedric had placed Ginny to keep her safe from the basilisk. Now she was sitting up, awake and crying, which was certainly better than the condition they'd first found her in.

"Ginny!" Harry sighed in relief before he knelt down and hugged her. Ginny clutched him desperately as she sobbed.

"Harry! I didn't mean to… Tom was so nice, but I kept forgetting where I was… And I didn't mean to hurt the others! And the snake… I'm _so_ sorry!"

Harry helped her stand as he murmured under his breath reassurances that everything was alright, Riddle was gone for good and the petrified students would be cured any day now. Cedric waited quietly until Ginny's sobs had receded and she was no longer hyperventilating before leading the way for them out of the Chamber of Secrets. Fawkes let out a happy trill as he followed over their heads.

Cedric came to a stop when they reached the pile of rubble blocking the tunnel and bent to gently pick up Hermione's scarf from where he had left it.

'_We made it out,'_ he thought as he draped it over his shoulders, his eyes closing at its familiar weight. '_I made it back to you.'_

He turned his gaze towards the top of the cave-in as he heard shifting rocks. Unlike before, there was now a sizable opening near the top. He could see an orange head peeking through the gap at the sound of their arrival.

"Ginny!" Ron gasped. He pushed his way through the hole and crawled down the rock pile, wrapping his sister in a dusty hug when he reached the bottom. "Are you alright?" Ginny's crying lightly restarted as she clung to her brother and nodded.

"How's Lockhart?" Cedric asked after Ron had released his sister and was now holding securely onto her hand.

Ron shrugged. "He's got no idea who he is. Keeps asking me about what's going on but I was busy making a way for you lot to get back out."

Cedric nodded in understanding. "Let me go back first. I can stun him and levitate him the way back so he won't get in our way or get hurt."

It took a while for all four of them to climb their way over to the other side. By the time Harry was the last one through, Cedric had Professor Lockhart unconscious, immobilized, and hovering at waist height so he could easily transport the obliviated man without difficulty.

They walked back to the tunnel's entrance with Fawkes' melody echoing off the stone walls around them. It was interrupted every now and then by a small sniffle from Ginny but otherwise, the four students were relatively silent. Only once they were faced with the exit of the slide from Moaning Myrtle's lavatory did someone speak up.

"Maybe you can ask it for stairs, Harry?" Ron joked wearily as he turned towards his friend.

Harry shrugged. "I suppose." They waited in silence as he tilted his head slightly and let out a stream of hisses. To their surprise, the stone slide made a loud grinding sound as it transformed into a wide spiral staircase.

"I'll go last with Lockhart," Cedric offered, and the two second years nodded in agreement as Ron took his sister's hand and led the way up. To his amusement, Fawkes nudged him in the leg when Cedric tried to have the bird go before him. He wasn't one to argue with a phoenix, so he levitated Lockhart ahead of him and began the trek up the stairs, Fawkes singing a hopeful tune from behind him as they went.

* * *

**Eight**

It was touch that first came back to Hermione. She could feel his hand gently stroking hers from where it was still outstretched and she almost cried at being able to actually _feel_ what he had been doing for the past weeks during his visits.

She couldn't move her gaze yet (which was frustrating because she was so sick of staring at the ceiling) but she began actively trying to move her toes and fingers until she felt her pointer finger twitch. She was getting somewhere!

The potion seemed to work much quicker after that. Soon she was wiggling her toes in her shoes, and rubbing her tongue along her teeth, and blinking– blinking! She couldn't believe how much she'd missed blinking before. She shut her eyes as her arms slowly lowered to rest at her sides and she could feel someone helping her unbend her legs so she could lay flat on the bed.

She didn't look at her visitor until she was sure she could move her jaw and finally speak again. After an eternity and fifteen minutes, she finally turned her head to the side and opened her eyes to be met with the bright amber gaze of Cedric Diggory.

"Hello," she said with a small smile.

She swore that Cedric's bright grin lit the room around him. "Hey there." He squeezed her hand softly.

Cedric reached behind him and pulled out a very familiar Gryffindor scarf. "I believe this belongs to you," he said as he handed it to her. "Harry brought it to me a few days ago."

Hermione brushed her fingers over it gently before letting it hang across her shoulders. Her soulmate had worn her scarf! She'd never let it out of her sight now.

"I could hear you," she blurted out without thinking before blushing in response to her outburst. Too late to turn back, Hermione took a deep breath and soldiered on. "The whole time I was in here, I could hear you read to me. I loved the J. R. R. Tolkein novel."

Cedric's eyes widened at her words. "You could hear me? The whole time?" He paused as she nodded. "So that means you know about…" He used his free hand to gesture between them.

"Yes." She shifted her hand so her fingers were now entwined with his. "Cedric Diggory, my soulmate. It's wonderful to finally meet you."

He let out a shaky breath, "Hermione Granger, you had me worried there for a bit."

While she was petrified, she had reviewed everything she recalled about soulmates (or what she'd overheard Madame Pomfrey telling Cedric or the other two students with petrified soulmates). Now that she was faced with her other half, all the potential consequences came flooding back to her. "I heard you that first day… I'm sorry I caused you to feel those soulmate sickness symptoms… so cold and empty..."

She hadn't even realized tears were beginning to well in her eyes until Cedric rose from his chair. He moved to sit on the edge of her bed before he drew her into a tight embrace. Her arms automatically wrapped around his neck and she rested her chin in the crevice of his neck and shoulder. His arms were secured around her back and she let out a shaky sigh as one of his hands rhythmically rubbed up and down her back.

"Hermione, you figured out what was attacking the students and protected yourself the best way you could! You _never_ need to apologize for keeping yourself alive." The vibration of his voice through his chest helped soothe her, and she nodded in understanding and agreement at his words. She wiped her eyes as he pulled away slightly so he could look at her once again.

"At least there's a silver lining to it all," he added with an impish grin. Hermione felt herself blush slightly but smiled back at him nonetheless.

"Oi, get a room, you two!" Ron's voice rang out.

Hermione's eyes brightened further as she saw him and Harry making their way towards her little corner of the hospital legs were still unsteady, but Cedric helped steady her as she swung them off the side of the bed so she could easily hug both of her friends at once. "You figured it out! You found my notes!"

Harry laughed. "Hermione, _you're _definitely the one who figured it all out. We just found the page you ripped out."

"Talk about a petrifying sight: Hermione Granger with a ripped out page of a library book!" Ron added with a light poke to her side.

Hermione huffed and stuck her tongue out at Ron, who did the same right back to her. Harry began to laugh, causing Ron and Hermione to start laughing and Cedric was left watching in amusement as the three Gryffindors held onto each other to keep from falling over. Somewhere in the middle of it, the laughs turned to sniffles and a few tears threatened to fall as the three best friends hugged each other tightly.

"I missed you boys," Hermione murmured to them.

"We missed you too," Ron replied and Harry nodded before they pulled away from her.

"Adventures without you are a lot less fun," Harry added with a slight smirk.

"And a lot scarier."

"You should've seen Ron up against these giant spiders!"

Ron shuddered at the reminder. "I told you not to mention those again!"

Hermione narrowed her eyes slightly at the two as an innocent smile spread across her face. "Oh yes, do tell. Although I should warn you, I still haven't decided whether to be furious or grateful that my two reckless best friends dragged my soulmate along to kill a basilisk in a mythical chamber beneath the school."

The two Gryffindor boys looked like they'd been caught by Filch as Cedric snorted at her words.

"She could hear everything said in here when she was petrified. I assume this also includes when Madame Pomfrey was fixing us up in here yesterday and we told our story to the Aurors Professor Sprout had called," the Hufflepuff explained to them as they cringed while Hermione scolded them for going up against a Class XXXXX monster alone. "In my defense, they would've gone without me anyways."

"You read me '_Hogwarts: A History_' by choice; you get a pass," Hermione explained with a grin after she paused to take a breath.

"Hey! He only was able to read it because I brought your copy to him!" Harry whinged.

"Fine. Cedric's my soulmate, so he's still excused because I say so," she replied, crossing her arms in faux-annoyance. The twinkle in her eyes showed the true amusement she felt. "Now, shoo! Go tell our yearmates that I'm alright and I'll be back later. The girls were in here a few times." She glanced back at Cedric. "Cedric's been talking to me for the past several weeks without any response, and I think it's time I return the favor."

Harry and Ron sighed dramatically but, after hugging Hermione once more and waving to Cedric, the two of them left without any fuss.

Hermione pointed towards the end of her bed and Cedric moved to the spot, sitting cross-legged so he was facing her. After laying with her curls in the corner of her vision for days on end, Hermione was now taking the chance to braid some out of her way as she curiously looked Cedric over.

"I didn't know about soulmates until I came to Hogwarts," she started after several moments of contemplative silence. "My roommates explained it to the two of us muggle-raised students after we heard about Alicia Spinnet."

"My mother told me about it when I was younger, but my father doesn't believe in them." Cedric shrugged. "It didn't matter to me; I knew you were out there somewhere. I had several instances of SSS before coming to Hogwarts," he added.

"Me as well. Looking back, I think I remember a time you must've had mumblemumps," she replied, twisting the end of her left braid around her finger to lock it before starting on the right side. She tilted her head slightly to the side as she mulled over her next words.

"I know we're soulmates, but I'd like to start at being friends. At least at first," she added in a rush. "And friends should know things about each other! So… would you mind playing a game called 20 Questions? I used to do it with my parents all the time. Essentially, we pick from a category– say, favorite book– and the other person has 20 guesses to get it right."

Cedric slowly smiled after she finished speaking and she felt her nervousness begin to melt away. "Sure. So, I'll start by choosing my favorite book, and you ask the questions?"

Hermione smiled excitedly and she sat up a bit straighter. "Alright. Is it fiction?"

"No."

"So it's factual…"

"Was that your question?"

A laugh escaped Hermione. "You know it wasn't!" She continued after rolling her eyes at Cedric's knowing grin. "Is it magical?"

"Yes."

"Is it theory?"

"Yes."

"Is it…"

* * *

_Fin _


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Thank you for all the kind and supportive words! Here's the beginning of the continuation to the events of the first chapter. If you have any comments or suggestions of where you'd like to see this story go, feel free to leave a review! Hope y'all are safe and healthy :)_

* * *

**One**

Cedric hadn't been in the second year boys' suite since he'd gone with Hannah to choose a favorite book of Justin's she could read to him (since she'd wanted to use one of his muggle books). He certainly wasn't expecting to be back so soon, but once he had escorted Justin and Hannah back from the hospital wing, all of Justin's year mates had swarmed around the two boys and dragged them into their suite. He'd glanced back at Hannah as they were led away, but relaxed once he saw she was giggling and surrounded by her own friends.

"Congratulations, mates!" One of them called out once the door closed behind them, causing the rest to break out in cheers for Cedric and Justin. Cedric was used to the attention after the past weeks, but Justin's face turned bright red and he began to stammer. While he initially grinned at the younger boy's reaction, Cedric realized that this might have been why he was included in this little meeting.

The boys quieted down as they settled in a circle on the carpet in the moon-shaped space formed at the end of their beds. It was clear that this was a common practice with the ease they arranged themselves in. Cedric sat down in the open spot that was left for him.

They were silent until Justin spoke up. "Is it true?" He first asked, but was met with confused stares. "I heard everything while I was… petrified," he explained, rubbing his fingers over the cuffs of his Hufflepuff striped sweater out of nervousness. "Hannah showed up soon after I heard Cedric reading to Hermione regularly. No one ever came for Colin Creevey, so until Cedric and Yvonne were brought to the hospital wing, I'd never heard of soulmates."

There was a collective murmur from Justin's roommates.

"I'm sorry, Justin," Zacharias Smith surprisingly was the first to answer. He was already infamous in the house for his attitude, but it seemed like the severity of the situation had mellowed him out. "We never thought to tell you."

"When you never asked, we just assumed you knew," Ernie MacMillan added, with Oliver Rivers nodding in agreement. "And with all the problems this year…"

Cedric sighed. He understood where they were coming from. Hufflepuff didn't have any current public soulmate pairs before Hermione had been petrified, and consequently it wasn't a subject brought up often within the Den. The soulmate craze had died down towards the end of his first year, once people had grown used to seeing Alicia Spinnet and Adrian Pucey together. The two weren't from Hufflepuff, though, so the majority of the remaining attention came from within their own houses.

"Soulmates are real," he assured Justin. "In the magical world, if your soulmate is sick, you can feel their symptoms." He shrugged. "It only really helps when we're all at school in one place and have a chance of finding our soulmate, but some people's might be in different countries or continents. That's why most people don't like to mention it, except for when another pair is found."

Justin's eyes widened. "So… in a way, being petrified made me lucky in the magical world?"

That threw Cedric for a loop. "I mean, I guess? But you could've died! I wouldn't suggest it as a method of finding a soulmate in the long run."

"It's a bit ironic, if you think about it," Kevin Entwhistle jumped in with a grin. "Muggleborn students targeted and attacked because they weren't magically raised, and yet all four survived. Three even found their soulmates, something that's rare in our world!"

That brought a slight smile to Justin's face. "In the end, I'm just glad it's Hannah," he said. "She's just so..." He trailed off as his face flushed red and he looked cautiously up at Cedric. "How did it feel for you? When you found out about Hermione?"

Cedric thoughts first went to the horror, emptiness, the _cold_ that he felt before he even first saw her laying petrified, but he knew that wasn't what Justin was referring to.

"It was like feeling the sun come out after a long winter," he said, his voice soft. "Just listening to her talk, seeing her eyes light up when she talked about her favorite books… it was feeling content and complete for the first time without ever knowing before that I was missing a piece of me."

Justin let out a breathy laugh that caused Cedric to snap out of his thoughts and smile sheepishly at the assembled second years. They all had varying reactions to his explanation– Zacharias looked wistful while Kevin and Oliver were busy good-naturedly teasing Justin for finding Hannah. Ernie seemed to be in his own world of quiet contemplation.

"It feels just like that," Justin agreed. "Like perfection."

* * *

**Two**

Hermione was grateful that Ron had gone ahead to Gryffindor tower to let everyone know she was coming back. She had noticed him and Harry swapping looks when they came to escort her from the hospital wing, and quickly assumed something serious had happened that she needed to be told before her return.

Her assumption was proved right as Harry pulled her into an abandoned classroom once Ron disappeared around the corner. She made sure to lock it once he shut the door– and _wow_ was she elated to do magic once again! It was a good thing she had done so, because Harry took a deep breath once her attention was back on him before a tidal wave of words spilled out of him.

"When I was bitten by the basilisk apparently it caused my soulmate to collapse because they could feel something was wrong with me and they were brought to the hospital wing and it's a Slytherin and Ron and Cedric are okay with it but I don't know how the rest of Gryffindor will react!" Harry gasped wildly at the end, his shoulders slumping in relief as he automatically raised his hand to run his fingers through his hair.

Hermione stared at him blankly for a moment as her mind caught up with what he said. "Harry, you found your soulmate? That's wonderful!" She wrapped him in a tight hug as she bounced on her toes in excitement. "I'm so happy for you! Who are they?"

Harry drew back and blinked owlishly at her. "...You said 'they.'"

"Well, yes. You didn't mention their name, so I didn't want to draw any conclusions…"

Hermione was startled as her best friend grinned widely and hugged her again, holding so tightly that he picked her up and spun her around in a circle as she shrieked in surprise. "You're a great person, Hermione Granger."

"Alright alright, put me down, Harry Potter!" Even though he laughed as he followed her demand, Hermione couldn't find it in herself to truly be annoyed. "Can I ask who it is?" She peered at him curiously, still wondering who the other half of her friend could be.

Harry shrugged sheepishly. "It's… his name's Theodore Nott. He's the quiet, brown haired one who's always reading in class. Kind of like you," he said, poking her teasingly in the side.

"That's enough out of you, Mister Potter," Hermione swatted his hand away as she squirmed out of the way with a laugh. "We should be getting back to Ron, too– don't want him to have gone too terribly far ahead of us." She unlocked the door with a wave of her wand and they both made for the hallway.

"I'll tell you the rest later tonight, yeah?" Harry asked her as she looped her arm through his so they could walk together.

"I'd like that," Hermione nodded in assent.

They walked comfortably in silence up the grand staircase to the seventh floor before Harry spoke up once again. "Y'know, Mione, only you would manage to have a future Quidditch captain as a soulmate while you hate to fly."

Hermione stopped dead in her tracks as she looked at Harry in horror. "Oh my god," she said, so surprised she reverted to using the muggle phrase of exclamation. "I'll never be able to escape Quidditch now!"

Harry's laughter rang throughout the empty halls as they approached the portrait of the Fat Lady. Hermione rolled her eyes in amusement as Harry was too distracted to give the password, and she wasn't sure what it had changed to during her time in the hospital wing.

"Not to worry, dearie," the Fat Lady kindly told her as she swung open to the welcoming shouts of Gryffindor house. "Lovely to have you back."

* * *

**Three**

After being welcomed back by nearly all the Gryffindors in every year, even students she had never spoken to before, Hermione was quite thankful to finally escape to her dormitory with her roommates. She was so full of questions about everything she'd missed, and there were no better people than by Lavender and Parvati to spill on all of Hogwarts' happenings.

She was surprised when she noticed a pair of fourth year girls hovering by the entrance to the second year suite. Only when she paused to see who it was did her confusion morph into excited curiosity.

"You wanted us to join, Lavender?" Angelina Johnson asked after the girls all greeted each other.

"Yeah! We figured, since you're both Cedric's classmates and Quidditch rivals, and with Alicia also being in a soulmate pair, that you could help us with Hermione's questions."

"And we know she'll have _lots_ of them," Fay said in a friendly stage-whisper, causing them all to laugh.

Hermione was touched by the amount of thought her friends had put into her return. "Thank you, all of you," she said with a smile, trying to hold back tears. A few finally spilled free as Lily and Parvati gave her side-hugs from where they stood on the landing next to her.

"It's no problem at all," Alicia replied. "But let's first get inside before we continue. You never know if the twins have finally figured out another way up the stairs yet!"

It took a few minutes for the girls to all get settled, but after a bit of rearranging, all seven were soon seated on Fay and Lily's pushed together beds with steaming mugs of hot chocolate. Lily had draped a knitted blanket over herself and Hermione's laps.

"Alright, Hermione: where do you want to start?" Lavender asked, leaning forward slightly in anticipation.

Hermione didn't even hesitate before she asked her first question; she already had a list formed. "What else happened while I was… petrified?"

"Everyone knows about Cedric and you, but there are four other soulmate pairs that were discovered, too!" Parvati bounced excitedly as she counted off on her fingers. "Yvonne Bampton and Penelope Clearwater from Ravenclaw–"

"For the record, they were together before Penelope was attacked; they just kept it secret," Alicia interrupted with a shrug.

"-and Hannah Abbott and Justin Finch-Fletchley from Hufflepuff were all found because of the attacks." Parvati continued once Alicia was finished. "But then, a first year in Ravenclaw named Luna Lovegood fainted around the time Ginny Weasley went missing! And there was a second year Slytherin, Theodore Nott, who collapsed when Harry and Cedric were fighting the basilisk."

Hermione's eyes widened as she thought back to the other day in the hospital wing when she was still petrified. She remembered hearing two students being brought in before Harry and the rest had returned from the Chamber of Secrets, but she hadn't realized who they were until now.

"Wow," she breathed. "Is it normal for so many soulmates to be found at one time?"

The magical-raised girls glanced at each other as they thought over their answers. "Not usually," Fay replied. "There's been a few years when an illness has gone through the school that multiple pairs were found, like what happened with my parents."

Lavender nodded in agreement. "It's really rare."

Hermione shifted towards Alicia. "But you found your soulmate?"

"I missed my magical innoculations before I could come to Hogwarts," Alicia said, blushing slightly in embarrassment. "I live far away from London; we didn't have time to make it to St. Mungo's before September 1st. It's not as normal for magical raised students who get the same innoculations for common magical bugs."

"Will they… I mean, is everyone alright with me and Cedric being in different houses?"

She wasn't expecting the rest of the girls to break out in grins. "Of course!" Lily nodded. "I've learned a lot about it lately, and from what I understand, soulmates are revered in the magical world! It's why even the Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry doesn't target Alicia and Adrian."

"Besides, who doesn't like Cedric Diggory?" Parvati added. "He's like the epitome of Hufflepuff house: hard working and loyal!"

"And he's ridiculously good on the Quidditch pitch," Angelina huffed, causing the other girls to laugh. "We didn't get to play Hufflepuff this year, but next year's game should be fun."

"I'll make sure to wear both a Hufflepuff and Gryffindor scarf, then," Hermione assured her as Angelina put a hand to her heart as she jokingly gave profuse thanks.

Lavender gasped suddenly, reaching over Parvati to grab Hermione's knee. Hermione flinched at the unexpected movement, knocking her into Lily, who leaned towards Fay to balance herself out. In the end, the five year mates were tangled together and laughing wildly, while the older girls looked on in amusement.

"No, Hermione!" Lavender said once her giggles died off. "Don't wear a Hufflepuff _scarf_ to the game. You have to wear one of Cedric's jerseys!"

There was a chorus of _ooo_'s as the rest of the girls absorbed what she was saying. "Yellow would look good with your skin tone, too," Lily mused as she tilted her head to look more closely at Hermione.

Angelina sent an innocent grin Alicia's way. "Jerseys also make nice pajamas," she slyly pointed out. "Just ask Alicia."

Alicia blushed as all the girls clamorred at once to hear about how she got one of Adrian's jerseys. "He gave it to me to wear for the other Slytherin games."

"Well…" Hermione thought over their words as she fought to keep her own blush off her face. "Cedric has been wearing my scarf for the past few weeks… I suppose it's fair to ask to wear something of his in return."

"Oh yes, Harry asked us for it so he could lend it to Cedric once we found out he was your soulmate from Ron," Fay responded.

"Don't forget about her book! We gave that to him as well," Lavender reminded her.

"Thank you for that," Hermione smiled warmly at both of the girls. "Cedric read it aloud to me while I was petrified."

"He did?! Alright, Hermione, tell us _everything!"_ Parvati pleaded as she threaded her fingers through her hair, as if in effort to keep herself grounded.

Hermione blushed as her friends all leaned in and clamored to hear her talk about Cedric, and she smiled as the night went on and she found herself home in Gryffindor once again.

* * *

**Four**

Hermione waited until her friends' breathing had all evened out before she quietly peaked through her curtains. She didn't see any movement after several moments, so she slipped out of bed and tip-toed out of the room, making sure to stay quiet on her way down the stairs. She expected to have to wait for Harry to make an appearance, but was surprised to find him already seated on one of the chairs by the fireplace, reading a book.

"Harry," she called softly as she walked over to him, knowing he didn't like to be caught off guard by sudden appearances.

The firelight flickered on his glasses when he looked up as she sat down and leaned against him. She knew he enjoyed physical touch (he hadn't told her much, but she gathered that his life at Privet Drive wasn't the most nurturing), and after being frozen stiff for so long, Hermione was desperate to touch people. She sighed in content as he shifted so one arm could drape over her shoulder while the other still held his book open. He finished reading the page he was on before slipping a piece of scrap paper into the book as a bookmark and shutting it.

"It's the book Cedric was reading to you," he explained as he showed her the cover. "I mentioned not being able to sleep well, so he lent it to me."

"The girls mentioned that you fought the basilisk together," Hermione said carefully after a moment of silence. "But I think there's a bit more to the story." She tilted her head back so she could look up at his expression.

Harry's eyes were closed as he sighed tiredly. "It was Voldemort. Or rather," he let out a mixture of a dark chuckle and another sigh, "it was Voldemort through Ginny Weasley."

Hermione nodded. After hearing about Ginny being taken into the Chamber of Secrets, she had realized who the orange hair of her attacker belonged to. She wouldn't ever forget the sight of that orange hair and those yellow eyes. "He possessed her?"

"His younger self did," Harry confirmed. "You know, his real name is Tom Riddle. He framed Hagrid for Moaning Myrtle's death."

She'd heard about Hagrid getting sent to Azkaban and hadn't believed for a second that it was his fault. The man couldn't hurt a living thing. "How did you find out about this?"

"He told me." She could feel Harry shrug as he spoke. "He's very talkative. Even last year, with the Mirror of Erised, he tried to convince me to join him. This time at least he only wanted to know how I defeated him as a baby."

"What did you say?"

Harry shrugged again. "I just bluffed my way through it. Said I didn't believe him so he just had to give away more information. Didn't understand much of it, to be honest. But Cedric said some stuff Riddle mentioned was really important, so we're both going to show our memories to Madam Bones and the other aurors when they come back tomorrow to speak with us."

Hermione's eyes widened. "The head of the DMLE came here?"

"Yeah. When Ron and I came across Cedric, he was with Yvonne Bampton and Hannah Abbott. Well, Hannah's best friend is Susan, so when she told Susan what was happening, Susan contacted her Aunt Amelia through an emergency alert enchantment on her necklace."

Hermione nodded as she absorbed his words. She'd had a lot of time to think to herself while petrified in the hospital wing, and she'd often wondered why students being attacked didn't merit a newsworthy story. Hell, it hadn't even caused any parents to withdraw their children! Even with only muggleborn students being attacked, she couldn't believe _no one_ outside the castle didn't care. Hearing that aurors would be coming to hear the truth from at least Cedric and Harry made her feel a bit better.

"Harry…" She pulled her head off of where it was resting against his shoulder so she could look him in the eyes. "For Theodore Nott to have soulmate sickness symptoms… what else happened in the Chamber of Secrets?"

His emerald eyes slid off of hers to stare guiltily into the flickering flames of the fireplace. "When I stabbed the Sword of Gryffindor into the basilisk's mouth to kill it, my arm was pierced by one of its fangs…"

Hermione blinked once, then twice, as she made sure she'd heard him correctly. "Harry, basilisk venom is fatal!" She whispered-shrieked, knowing she had to keep her voice down. "How are you alive?!"

Harry looked back at her with a small smile. "Dumbledore's phoenix Fawkes was there– he'd blinded the basilisk early on. Did you know phoenix tears have healing properties?" His smile spread into a proud grin. "Riddle wasn't happy about that."

Hermione giggled at his words, both from amusement but also the stress this new information had doused her with. Their first year together had shown life at Hogwarts– and particularly life with Harry Potter– was never going to be the safest, but she certainly hadn't been expecting this when she boarded the Express for their second year.

"Life is never dull with you, Harry," she sighed, reaching out to ruffle his hair affectionately. She let out a true laugh as he scrunched his nose up in weak protest at her action. "I'm so happy you've found your soulmate though. If anyone deserves the happiness of finding their other half, it's you."

She could see a blush spread across Harry's face, even in the low light. "I haven't really spoken to him yet," he admitted. "Well, we talked briefly in the hospital wing, but only to confirm that we were soulmates." He let out a shaky sigh.

Hermione bit her lip as she thought through his options. "It seems like most of the school knows already, but I don't think anyone will get between the two of you, Harry. Soulmates are revered here. The Gryffindor girls definitely don't mind– and besides, Hogwarts is accepting of Alicia and Adrian Pucey's soulbond. I'm sure they can handle another Gryffindor-Slytherin pair!"

Harry drew her into his side for a hug. "You're the brightest witch I know, Hermione," he mumbled in thanks.

Hermione snorted. "The Boy Who Lived and the Brightest Witch. What'll we call Ron?"

"Oh, that's easy: haven't you seen him eat? Biggest Mouth!" Harry and Hermione dissolved into uncontrolled laughter at his joke, only stopping once Hermione began to hiccup. "Nah, but 'Best Tactician' definitely fits him. We'll let him know in the morning. Hey, maybe I'll beat him once before we graduate!"

* * *

**Five**

He was waiting for her outside the portrait as promised. His presence was alerted to her by the time she had reached the common room with her suitemates, as several clusters of students waiting for friends were talking about how they wished they could find their own perfect soulmate. Hermione slightly blushed as her friends all shooed her out the portrait hole first, but she grinned widely when she stepped out to find Cedric.

"Ho, fair lady," he bowed slightly with a mischievous grin. "Would you allow me the honor of escorting you to the grand feast that awaits?"

Hermione glanced over to see Parvati nodding at her in encouragement. "The honor is mine, my knight of Hufflepuff," she replied, dropping into a respectable curtsy despite her muggle jeans. Cedric held out his arm to allow her to link theirs together before they made their way to the Great Hall.

"Are those your yearmates?" Cedric asked, his eyes flickering in the direction where the quartet of girls were gathered as they walked off ahead of them, leaving the pair some privacy as they followed.

Hermione smiled softly. "Yes: Parvati, Lavender, Fay and Lily. I'll introduce you to them later."

"You can do it when we get to breakfast," he assured her. "Since you've missed the past few weeks with your house, I was thinking we could sit together at the Gryffindor table…" Cedric trailed off as he noticed Hermione had stopped walking. He turned to ask if something was the matter, only to find her with tears welled up in her eyes. "I'm sorry, did I say something? Are you alright?"

Hermione's answering smile was nearly blinding. She pulled him closer to her and hugged him tightly. "More than alright," she assured him.

They made their way down the main staircase, pausing every so often as passing students called out greetings. Cedric received quite a few as a known Quidditch player, but Hermione was also surprised to have some aimed her way. Older students she had never spoken to stopped to say they were glad she was alright. A pair of Slytherins had even _nodded_ at her, and the fact that they were purebloods doing so mystified her even more.

"Our soulmate status is public knowledge throughout the school," Cedric explained to her after he saw her questioning look. "Because finding your soulmate is so rare normally, even the more… 'traditional' families in Britain will now respect you." He cringed a little at his own words, clear that he didn't agree with the prejudice behind them. "Some believe soulbonds are blessings by Magic itself."

"That's interesting," Hermione mused. "Do you happen to know of any books about it? I'd like to research more about soulmates and soulbonds."

Cedric grinned at her as they reached the Entrance Hall. "I'm sure there's some books in the library. We can check later if you'd like."

Hermione smiled, but it quickly faded with the silence that descended as they entered the Great Hall. The room was around half full at this time of the morning, but with all eyes turned towards her and Cedric, it felt as if it was bursting at the seams. She pulled her shoulders back and stood tall and proud next to her Hufflepuff, daring anyone to speak against them.

Neither of them had been expecting students at all four of the tables to begin applauding. It started at the Hufflepuff table with some of the younger years as they all saw their housemate with his soulmate for the first time, and the cheering quickly spread to the other houses until almost everyone was on their feet for Cedric and Hermione.

Everyone quieted down as Professor McGonagall's amplified voice called from their attention from where she sat at the head table. "Yes, I know we are all glad that Miss Granger has rejoined us alongside Mr. Diggory, but perhaps we ought to let them eat now without any disruptions?" Although it had been presented as a request, her order was promptly followed as the students laughed and retook their seats.

"Gryffindor table, you said?" Hermione asked with a relieved sigh, grateful most of the attention was off of them for now.

Cedric nudged her side with his elbow. "Lead the way."

Lily waved them over to where she had saved them seats on the far side of the table, next to the Weasley twins of all people. Lavender, Parvti and Fay sat across from them and leaned forward eagerly as Hermione and Cedric sat down.

Hermione sighed fondly at their antics. "Cedric, these are my suitemates: Lily Moon, Fay Dunbar, Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil," she said as she pointed at them in turn, each of them waving as she did.

"It's nice to meet you all," Cedric said with a smile as he nodded at them all before he and Hermione began filling their plates.

"Is it really true you helped Harry kill the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets?" Lavender asked hurriedly, her eyes wide with wonder. Hermione resisted the urge to sigh at her friend's need to hear gossip from the source if necessary.

Fay gasped, lightly slapping their friend in the arm. "Lav! Let them eat!"

"Sorry, I was just curious!"

"It's alright," Cedric graciously said, taking a few quick bites of a peach before setting it down on his plate. "I know everyone has been wondering what happened. I wasn't as helpful as I wished I could've been," he admitted, glancing at Hermione as he did so. "I only made a marble pillar fall on the basilisk, Harry did the rest."

A hush fell over the table as those who had been listening in stopped and stared at Cedric, who flushed at the attention.

It was one of the Weasley twins who broke the quiet. "Mate, we knew you were a seeker–"

"– but it seems that you're a keeper as well!" The other finished, ushering in a wave of laughter that broke the tension.

"Thanks, Fred and George," Cedric laughed, though he did have a slight blush on his face. Hermione found it endearing.

She gathered up her courage and leaned to whisper in her soulmate's ear. "Don't worry, I already knew that." She innocently smiled at his greater blush before redirecting the conversation to the safer waters of the daily gossip mill, to which her friends jumped into with great gusto.

It was lovely for things to feel normal once again, if only for a little while.


End file.
